One of the perks of this job is getting to meet cool people like Jalopnik überfriend Rutledge Wood and his pal Kyle Petty. This dynamic duo of NASCAR insight called me today to explain they'd chased a manufacturer's prototype vehicle through a Carl's Jr. and they wanted to know what the vehicle was.

The pair — in California for the big race at Fontana this weekend — rightly noticed the manufacturer's plates on the SUV and the badging covered up by black tape. According to Wood, the driver of the vehicle fled the wrong way down a Carl's Jr. drive thru as soon as he noticed he was being tailed.

The vehicle itself isn't a big secret as they've been around forever, which makes me think the driver wasn't so much fleeing for fear of being caught but rather because he thought he was being chased by Kyle Petty and Rutledge Wood.

"OMG, he's gotta beard and an iPhone!" I could imagine the driver thinking to himself as he laid rubber in the other direction.

UPDATE: I've been informed that Marianela Pereyra was in the car, too. Now the idea of someone actively running away from (instead of towards) that vehicle makes no sense.